Campaign for Howard Wilkinson Elland Road statue launched as Leeds United club stance given — Leeds Live 18/6/25

Leeds Live spoke to Leeds United great Howard Wilkinson as the project celebrated its launch event

“Honoured. Embarrassed. Surprised.” Howard Wilkinson listed his emotions at the idea he could get a Leeds United statue.

There is perhaps no better place to launch a campaign for the Whites legend to be immortalised in bronze than the Old Peacock Pub, a central hub of the fan community and just a goal-kick away from Elland Road.

Around 40 Leeds United diehards attended the gathering in the side room on a warm Monday evening. The event was both passionate and modest, much like Wilkinson himself who sat over to the far side next to wife Sam. He hardly wanted to be the centre of attention.

Those standing up at the front gave him no choice, though, as some of the 1992 title winners waxed lyrical about the great man, who celebrates his 82nd birthday this year. The likes of Gary McAllister and Tony Dorigo, battling a temperamental microphone, offered anecdotes of that season.

“When I first heard of this little venture to try and get a statue, I was all over it,” McAllister told Leeds Live afterwards. “I think all the players that played in that championship winning side back in 1991/92 would be very supportive of it."

At one point, several of the organisers of the ‘Wilko92’ campaign - Neil Barker, Robert Endeacott and Dave Tomlinson - explained more about the project. “This is not just a statue, but a legacy,” declared Tomlinson, a financial and project manager who wrote the 2024 ‘Man With A Plan’ biography of Wilkinson.

But the most charismatic speaker was renowned sports artist Paul Trevillion, who ditched the mic and delivered an impassioned speech on feeling honoured to be asked to design a drawing. This is a man who has met and drawn the likes of Pele and Winston Churchill.

Yet his beating of a blank A1 sheet of paper as he recounted the moment he got the call to draw Wilkinson’s profile, and his emotive language when describing the design upon its reveal, shows this is one of his career’s high points. This will get auctioned off to raise funds.

Wearing his distinctive cowboy-style hat, Trevillion paraded his fine artwork around the room before returning to the speaker’s spot by which time Wilkinson was there waiting to thank him. Up to this point, the former England manager had stayed in the background but was now invited to pose with the design and say a few words.

Both then and afterwards, speaking to guests, he was quick to underline that his success at Leeds was a team effort and that it was very much not just a one-man show. Wilkinson made a point to go round and greet all those who had attended, posing for pictures and signing autographs.

In a conversation with Leeds Live, Wilkinson was awash with humility. “One feeling that genuinely comes to me is one of embarrassment,” he said.

“Like anyone else in a position of responsibility, I have to also say that I was very blessed with a supportive family in terms of my wife and children. Also the people I worked with. It also makes me realise that what I did is considered my job, but I never worked a day in my life.”

Wilkinson raised the comparison of his father, who left school aged 14 to go and work down a coal mine. He also pointed to professions such as medics, and compared their importance to that of a football manager.

Asked if there was still yet a sense of pride in the work he carried out at Leeds, he replied: “Proud, maybe. Proud in the sense of just achieving goals that were very rewarding as moments.

“Forget money and everything else, it was just nice to work with other people in what depended on teamwork, what depended on individuals recognising that it's not ‘me’, it's 'we’. And being prepared to work towards ‘we’ and success for ‘we’. So it's just… I'm very lucky.”

More than 150,000 supporters lined the streets of Leeds city centre in May to celebrate promotion to the Premier League with Daniel Farke and the current squad. Some of them will have remembered the bus parade of 1992 and Wilkinson remembers what he felt as he saw the masses.

“It was one of humility to be on top of a bus and to have that many people out. Recognising supporters being there, and when you're in that position on that day, that, yeah, I suddenly thought, what a great responsibility to me.”

Just over 33 years on, some of those in attendance at Monday’s statue launch were in the crowd that day. Many remember Wilkinson directing instructions on the touchline during that season and Trevillion’s drawing of the coach resembles such a posture.

The hope is for British sculptor Peter Hodgkinson to chisel the artwork, having gained acclamation for his statue of Sir Tom Finney outside Preston North End’s stadium Deepdale. A rough year of 2027 has been outlined for its construction, though the campaign is still in embryonic stages.

Around £140,000 will have to be raised by supporters amid the hope that businesses will also chip in and contribute. “It's not the club playing for it, it's fans, Leeds fans. So we're looking for sponsorship, contributions, etcetera, with lots of events lined up to raise funds,” said co-organiser Endeacott.

“And also to embrace the Leeds United community and everybody can have some bloody good fun doing it as well and Howard's all for it - and that takes some doing!

“There's a lot of great things about Howard, but one of the major things for me is that he's so modest and insistent that everyone who is involved shares the credit. But he also is very proud of what he had in his 10-year plan including Thorp Arch, the Leeds United academy. It [statue] probably is overdue.”

In short, the Wilko 92’s objective is to raise the funds needed for Wilkinson's statue which will “commemorate his legacy and all his achievements for Leeds United”. There is hope and optimism around the club’s involvement.

A representative from United was in attendance at Monday’s launch event and the club are fully supportive of the plans. With proposals at such an early stage, United are not currently in a position where they can commit or rule anything out but it will work with the Wilko 92 group to see how things progress forward.

The planned expansion to Elland Road adds a mixture of complexity to the situation amidst it all. But there is a sense of delight from organisers that the club have been receptive.

On Monday, a raffle for signed memorabilia was held and a signed portrait of McAllister was auctioned off for more than £300.

More fundraising events are in the pipeline with the anticipation that there will be a groundswell of support as time goes on. To learn more about the campaign click here.

As for Wilkinson, his legacy will forever be etched into the fabric of Elland Road - though any credit directed his way will always be met with humility: “I’m just very, very lucky.”